


51. Secret Handshake

by alley_oops, jennandanica



Series: Citadel: Luke Evans and Alex Skarsgard [51]
Category: Actor RPF, Citadel (Journalfen RPG), True Blood RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-02
Updated: 2008-11-02
Packaged: 2018-01-01 14:08:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alley_oops/pseuds/alley_oops, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennandanica/pseuds/jennandanica





	51. Secret Handshake

_**Alex Skarsgard and Chris Meloni - Secret Handshake**_  
(On the set of "True Blood" of which Chris is now a cast member. Backdated to late February, 2012)

It's been a long day. It's not over yet. Chris had managed to sneak away to get in a call to Adam, but it had been short and filled with the mundane. Kind of like their time together has been, lately, he's been so tired.

Grabbing a lettuce wrapped, grilled chicken strip from craft services, he settles down with a soft sigh next to Alex. Who is frowning. Again. Alex, who knows the secret handshake. Chris suddenly wonders if maybe there's someone he's missing, too.

"Hey," Chris offers casually. "Love your take on that last line of the scene."

"Hmm?" Alex looks over absently at the interruption of his thoughts. "Oh, thanks." Chris Meloni seems cool enough. He's certainly had a very cool career already, and Alex admires him for that. But the truth is that Alex has really been sulking too fucking much for the last month to bother making friends with any of the new people on the set. "You do 'menacing' very well," he says, complimenting the man in turn, even as he begins to tune out again. He's just having such a damn hard time concentrating these days.

"Thanks," Chris says with a half-smirk, half-smile. "You oughta see me in my true element," he adds, his voice low.

"Yeah, what's that?" Maybe Alex has just spent too much time inside Eric Northman's skin. His real voice is starting to sound just as bored as a thousand year-old vampire's.

Chris gives it a beat. Gauging Alex's mood and what he knows of him since they've started filming. Friendly isn't his strong suit, from what Chris has seen, but there's something there. A sense of melancholy, maybe, that Chris understands and--let's face it--can't let go. Damn his fix-it nature.

So he decides to go for it. Glancing around, making sure he won't be overheard, Chris leans a little closer to him. "Yup. My boy is almost as tall as you are and has about forty pounds on you and he tends to think I'm a bad ass when I'm in my leathers."

Alex raises an eyebrow and turns his head to give Chris a sharp speculative look. Is he fucking with him? Trying to trip him up or some bullshit like that? "Really," he says, his voice flat. But his eyes are intent as he studies Chris, more attentive to the man than he's probably been this whole month.

"In fact," Chris sits back in his chair, taking a bite of his wrap and chewing it slowly before he goes on, "it's been too long since we spent an evening out. Membership has its benefits and all that."

 _Membership. Huh._ It's like a light flashing on behind Alex's eyes. But the sense of paranoid self-preservation lingers, and Alex quickly digs his phone out of his pocket. It takes only a few seconds to call up Citadel's website, log in with his member name and password and access the directory. He whistles softly when Chris's profile blooms on the tiny screen. "Well, look at that," he murmurs, barely scanning the words before he closes the browser and puts his phone away. He holds out his hand for Chris to shake. "Nice to meet you. Again."

Chris gives him an amused half-smile, taking his hand and shaking it warmly. "Nice to meet you, too. You know, you look a lot like I did when I was filming in NY and Adam was stuck out here." It's a long shot. Might not be that at all, but the hundred-yard stare that Alex wears speaks to the romantic in him.

 _Damn it_. Chris isn't the first person to be calling Alex out on this. Is he really that fucking obvious? _Apparently_. He huffs out a breath. "And how long did you have to put up with that?" he murmurs, apparently back to absently scanning the set while the lights get re-rigged. But his attention is now fully on the man beside him.

"Until I finally decided to walk from SVU. We made it work, but it wasn't easy. Between the two of us we have enough miles to fly around the world several times a year for the next ten years or so. And we wore out our phones, and later, Skype." There were other things, too. Assignments, challenges, ways that Chris worked at reminding Adam to whom he belonged... but really, Alex hadn't asked for advice.

Alex nods, absorbing all of that. "New Zealand," he supplies. "For a few more months. When I wrap up here, I'll head back there. And then after that..." He shrugs. "Who knows?" He knocks back a swallow of cold water. "You two are both out here now?" Surely they must be, for Chris to be this affable; Alex refuses to believe that any man could tolerate a separation from his boy with such good grace.

Swallowing the rest of his wrap, Chris nods. Settling back in his chair. "For now, yeah. New Zealand. That's tough. You can't just hop a flight for a few hours for the weekend." His lip kicks up at the corner slightly... "No wonder you've been as growly as Eric."

Snorting a laugh, Alex relaxes into a wry smile. "Yeah," he confesses. "Once upon a time, it was just a role... These days I'm so perpetually pissed off that I might as well invest myself in a centuries-old grudge match." He gives Chris a real grin, his eyes sparkling. "Bring that character to life."

Chris laughs, struck by how attractive Alex is when he takes on that life he's talking about. "Well, it would probably help with that whole 'do my bidding' thing. But then again, I bet you've never had to rely on glamour to get what you want out of your... boy? I'm guessing?" Again his voice is low. Careful.

"Yeah. Boy," Alex replies, just as quietly. Slipping his phone from his pocket again, he scrolls through his pictures until he lands on one of Luke laughing in the sunlight, the day they'd taken Carlo for a walk in the dog park. He passes the phone to Chris. "Mine," he says softly, and there's a tender smile on his face.

Chris grins, the picture capturing the spirit of the man quite well, he bets. "Lucky you," he says. "I know his face, can't place his name," he admits.

"Luke Evans," Alex whispers, and spends a long moment more trying to memorize the happiness shining on his lover's face before he pockets his cell once again. "Um, Three Musketeers. Immortals. Clash of the Titans... Did you see any of those?"

"Oh yeah," Chris says in sudden recognition. "He does good work. I'm sorry you have to be away from him. Are you able to talk often?"

"Every other day or so. They're nineteen hours ahead of us," Alex explains. "And we text a lot. I've started sending him assignments," he murmurs, "to keep him busy. To remind him." It's time to cut off that line of thought, before his cock starts to swell.

"Assignments are good, but I wouldn't worry too much about him forgetting. If he's yours, he's thinking about you all the time." Chris pauses a moment, then goes for it. "He probably wouldn't like knowing you're so miserable, though."

Shaking his head, Alex snorts again, and he has to give Chris a dry grin. "Not much he can do about that," he says. No, he's not going to deny that he's miserable, not when it's apparently so fucking obvious. "Not from seven thousand miles away."

"You should come over, hang out with Adam and me. Take your mind off things," Chris offers.

"I'd really like that," Alex answers, surprised by the invitation. Surprised and pleased. "There are so few people I can talk to about him at all, you know?" he murmurs. "It's very cool to meet someone who actually gets the extent of it." Not just the gay lover, but the boy aspect as well. "Can I ask how long you've been together?"

"We met just over five years ago, have been living together four years and a couple of months," Chris answers after a quick mental calendar check. Pulling out his phone, it's his turn to show off a picture of Adam looking up at him, blue eyes intense and laser focused. "Mine," he murmurs.

His own eyes still huge with shock over Chris's answer, Alex takes the phone. "Oh shit, I know him," he says softly. "Firefly and Serenity were fucking awesome. And Christ, man, that's fucking amazing. Five years? You're probably my new hero."

"Took forever to find him, but once I did... I'm not planning on letting him go. He's amazing, both as a partner and a boy. We complement each other. We're both pretty laid back and take life as it comes. And I'll tell him you said so, about Firefly and Serenity. He's pretty damn proud of that work."

"He should be." Alex nods and hands the phone back. "Luke and I... it's only been, like, four months. Neither of us has ever been known for doing the long-term thing. But..." he blows out a breath, and looks over to meet Chris's eyes. "I'm really fucking hopeful." Shit, it's something he hasn't even confessed to Luke himself.

"Adam and I knew each other for a year before we accepted it was more than just really successful hook-ups. I think... the thing that works for us most is we don't take anything too seriously. Not a lot of drama in our lives. If something's wrong, we just lay it out there and deal with it. There's not much that could keep me away from him, man. We get to define what's a problem and we just don't let anything go there. If that makes sense."

It sounds awfully reasonable; Alex just isn't quite sure how it works. "Do the two of you play outside your relationship?"

"Adam is a switch and he tops occasionally. We're into the leather culture, so we go out to Cit leather bars from time to time and I pimp him out a bit. I'm bi and occasionally hook up with a woman. But he doesn't bottom for anyone else," Chris explains.

"Hmm." Alex nods again, thinking about that. "That's cool. That you've been together so long and you've got that all sorted. It can be so tough to figure out -- just for people to be honest enough to work it out, I mean. Did you share him from the start?"

"Not so much, no," Chris says after a moment of thought. "But I think that was because of the way our relationship developed." He trails off as a PA walks by, muttering to herself, making sure she's out of range before going on. "He was coming off unrequited love and I was coming off a nightmare relationship and we just... slowly discovered there wasn't anywhere else we wanted to be than with each other. I actually didn't start sharing him until we were more committed to each other, to be honest."

Alex scratches the nape of his neck. "Wait. So you were both on the rebound? And that worked?" He rolls his eyes at himself. "Sorry, I ask a lot of questions. Tell me to shut the fuck up anytime."

Laughing, Chris shakes his head. "You're okay. Well, remember, I said we hooked up for a year before we admitted it was anything more. We had time to lick our wounds and move on, and we sort of supported each other through it. So yeah, we were ready when it happened."

"Got it." Viewed in that light, it definitely makes more sense. Alex has just never been the 'slow burn' type, not in any capacity. He can't imagine having the kind of patience necessary for the gradual build-up Chris is talking about. But the man definitely seems to have it all figured out now, and with a degree of wisdom Alex can only hope to achieve some day.

Chris smiles at the PA that's approached them, asking if they need anything. "No, thanks, I'm good." He watches as Alex waves her off as well and waits until they're "safe" again. "So how did you two meet?" Talking about Adam always made Chris feel better when he was missing him.

"At a club. One with a live concert going on, I mean," Alex clarifies with a chuckle. "I was watching him dance, and he caught me staring... The fact that he had the balls to come over and talk to me like a normal person impressed me nearly as much as everything else about him. Usually I just get lots of giggles and screams, or women trying to rub up against me." It sounds like such a champagne problem, he knows. But with a beginning like that, there's no possible way anything could ever develop into more. "He took me home, we fucked, and then mentally I was already halfway out the door, when he let me know he was kinky." Alex is being very careful to keep his voice down as well, although sometimes he wonders why he bothers, with all the noise on the set. "That changed the whole game, and suddenly I didn't want to leave."

"Kind of the whole package thing, huh? Suddenly figuring out that you could have everything you wanted without having to start over every time? That plus a boy with balls'll get you every time," Chris adds with a snicker.

Alex shares the laugh, a goofy crooked grin spreading across his face. "I do like his balls," he confesses. "They just take a stinger so damn beautifully." Damn this feels good: simply getting the chance to sit back and _talk_ to someone, without mentally censoring himself every two minutes.

Chris whistles under his breath at that image. "Nice," he murmurs. "You should see how mine takes a fist." _Okay, pedal back, Meloni._ He shifts in his chair and grins at Alex.

Swallowing a soft groan of appreciation, Alex glances down, studying Chris's hands. Yeah, they're fucking huge. "Very nice," he agrees in turn. He and Luke haven't gotten there yet. But they will. "Do you get out to the club here much?"

"From time to time. The last few months have been a little hectic with me wrapping up SVU and him wrapping up Chuck, and then the holidays, and now this gig. But when we have time and we actually make it out the door, we go to some of the satellite leather clubs. It's always a good time."

"That's right, you mentioned those," Alex recalls with a nod. "I actually haven't been. Are they worth checking out, for someone who just wants to watch? Or only if you're heavily into the culture?" He's interested, definitely. But he's played only rarely on the leather scene.

"The occasional tourist happens by," Chris says with a grin. "It's accepted a lot more at the Cit bars than the civilian bars, so yeah... if you're into watching it's a fun experience. There's a lot of casual boy sharing, especially blow jobs." His voice is pitched even lower as he gets deeper into description.

"Watching is about as far as I get these days," Alex confesses wryly. And it's by choice, certainly: Luke said he thinks he'd be okay with Alex playing around, so long as he's open about it with his boy. But Alex isn't certain he's ready to cross that line yet. "But I love a good show." And he is _not_ getting hard at the wicked image Chris paints so casually. Definitely not.

"Give me your number. I'll text you some addresses," Chris promises. "Or you can always go with us next time we go. Adam's about due for a take down."

"Definitely invite me along for that." Alex grins and holds out his hand for Chris's phone. He checks that his own is on vibrate before he dials in his own number, then saves Chris's contact info. "My weekends are more open than I'd like, so, you know..." He shrugs and has to laugh softly. "Anytime."

"Well, how about Saturday, then? We'll have a little dinner, get dressed up and go out. You'll cause a stir, I'm betting," Chris adds with a grin.

"I'll work on saying 'no' in my polite voice," Alex promises, grinning again. "Saturday would be great."

"Great. Say... four? We'll grill and have some time to sit around and hear about your boy before we go out."

Well, hell. That's about the nicest thing anyone's said to Alex in weeks, and he ducks his head swiftly so he can get his expression back under control. "Yeah," he answers, nodding before he looks over at Chris again. "Sounds really good."

"Cool. I'll text you my address." Chris is interrupted by a herd of crew returning to the set and he quirks a brow. "There goes our privacy," he murmurs.

"Well shit, they fucking took long enough," Alex mutters, but a smile lingers on his face. Chris is one of his new favorite people in the world.  



End file.
